12th Russian military base in Batumi was officially handed over to Georgia on November 13, ahead of planned schedule.

Originally the process was planned to be completed in a course of 2008, according to the agreement reached between Georgia and Russia in 2005.

A document on hand over of the base was signed by Batu Kutelia, the first deputy defense minister of Georgia and commander of the Group of Russian Forces in the Transcaucasus (GRVZ) Andrei Popov.

“All those facilities, which were occupied by the Russian military units, were transferred to the Georgian armed forces, while their remaining equipment, servicemen and staff are in the process of departure and the process will end in next several days,” Batu Kutelia told the Georgian Public Broadcaster.